Report details ‘food insecurity’ in county

More than 440,000 people living in San Diego County experience hunger each year, according to a study released Monday by Feeding America San Diego.

Commissioned by Feeding America, the “Map the Meal Gap” study was billed as the first of its kind to analyze “food insecurity” rates at the county level. Insecurity is described as the availability of food and one’s access to it.

Figures on the amount of hunger were in line with previous estimates provided by organizations and food distributors. However, by using the cost of an average meal and comparing it to the number of food insecure people, the study concluded that 73.6 million meals were missed each year in the county.

Jennifer Gilmore, executive director of Feeding America San Diego, said the organization and its nonprofit partners planned to distribute 16 million pounds this year and 20 million next year.

“That’s still a huge gap,” Gilmore said. “And, honestly, I worry about those families.”

According to the study, 40 percent of food insecure people here “fall into the gap” of struggling to pay for food but remain ineligible for federal assistance. What’s more, nearly half of the people struggling to afford food didn’t meet income requirements to qualify for CalFresh, formerly known as food stamps, leaving many to rely on charities and other organizations.

San Diego’s historically low enrollment of CalFresh benefits has been the topic of more than a year of study.

Last month, county officials and representatives from nonprofit and community groups pored over a 20-page report listing 69 recommendations — 54 of them in place, in progress or deemed feasible — for improving the program locally. Since April 2009, participation has increased 70 percent to more than 218,000 people, officials said. In that time, more than 46,000 children and seniors were added to the program.

“There is no ‘one size fits all solution’ nor is their one face of hunger,” Gilmore said. “Impacting the meal gap will take partnerships and a multifaceted approach. We need to focus on moving families out of food lines and into self-sufficiency by committing to distributing healthy food to struggling families.”

Elsewhere, the study found that Imperial County was among the top five most food insecure counties in the state. There, 31.4 percent of the population experiences hunger each year versus 15 percent in San Diego.

Far too many families must choose between paying for food or paying their bills, said Sara Griffen, executive director of the Imperial Valley Food Bank. “This interactive study shows just where the problem areas are in Imperial and San Diego Counties and what exactly is needed to help.”

The study was based on information from the U.S. Census Bureau, U.S. Department of Agriculture and The Nielsen Company. It was funded by Nielsen and The Howard G. Buffett Foundation.